When Roses Say I Love You
by Fox Kitsune
Summary: Ulrich wants to tell Yumi how he feels, but he can't work up the courage, and what if she rejects him? What will he do to show her that he cares?


_Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko._

_Author's Note: This is my first Code Lyoko fic, so flames are accepted, but please don't be too harsh. I don't know about other people's coupling, but I support Ulrich/Yumi, and Jeremie / Aelita. Anyway, that being said please enjoy my little Code Lyoko one shot!_

When Roses Say "I Love You"

Yumi sat on a bench outside the school, a book in one hand, apple in another. She took a bite of the crispy, green apple as she turned the page, so entranced in the story.

Ulrich stood close by, leaning against a nearby tree, watching Yumi as she eagerly read. Odd walked over to Ulrich and smiled. "Hey Ulrich, so you gonna do it?"

Ulrich looked at his feet, his hands jabbed in his pockets. "I take it that's a no. Well go for it! She's all alone, it's the perfect time!"

Odd gave Ulrich a little shove towards the bench Yumi was sitting on, and Ulrich turned around and glared at him, as he took the final step towards the bench.

"Hello Yumi…um…Mind if I sit down?"

Yumi turned the next page and just nodded, throwing her apple core to the ground for some animals to nibble at. Finally she put the book down and turned her attention towards the boy in front of her.

"Hey Ulrich, what's up? Has Xana started some trouble?" Yumi asked, hugging her knees to her chest.

"Come on Ulrich, you can do it…" Ulrich thought, busily trying to find the words deep in his throat, practically clogging his windpipe.

"Um…no…" Ulrich replied in almost a whisper, now looking at his lap instead of her face. He twiddled his thumbs nervously.

Yumi raised an eyebrow, pulling some hair out of her face. "Then what's up?"

Ulrich looked to Odd for help, his eyes looking scared. "I've never seen Ulrich like this before. I guess I better help him…" Odd thought.

Odd snuck behind a tree and dialed Ulrich's number. Ulrich looked at the text message and let out a sigh of relief.

"Oh I'm sorry Yumi; I just got a message from Odd. He needs to talk to me. We'll talk later okay?" Said Ulrich, jumping up a little too quickly.

X

"Man Odd, I just can't do it! I play it over and over in my mind, but once I see her I freeze up!" Ulrich lay on his stomach on his bed, and slammed his fist down on the bed. He laid his head on his hands. "It's just so hard!"

Odd sat on the bed across from him, petting Kiwi's stomach. "Don't worry Ulrich, you'll figure it out. Hey, why don't you go talk to Jeremie and Aelita and the lab; maybe they can give you some pointers."

Ulrich sat up and stretched. "Good idea. I'll go talk to them. If Yumi comes around, tell her I'll be back later. What me to take Kiwi?"

Odd nodded, so Ulrich picked up Kiwi and headed out.

X

Ulrich headed up the elevator, stroking Kiwi in his arms. "I hope this works." He thought.

"Hey Jeremie? Aelita? Anyone here?" He yelled. He came into the room and saw Jeremie sitting at the computer.

Ulrich walked over to Jeremie, who was busily working on materializing Aelita, while she was helping him.

"Hey Jeremie, can I talk to the two of you for a second?" asked Ulrich, sitting down in the chair next to Jeremie.

Jeremie smiled, "Sure Ulrich. What's wrong?"

"Well, remember how you told us that you told Aelita that you loved her?"

Jeremie and Aelita both blushed. "Yes. Why?"

"This has to do with Yumi, doesn't it?" asked Aelita, and this time Ulrich blushed a little as he nodded.

"I want to tell Yumi how I feel, but every time I try, I get knots in my throat and everything comes out in gibberish… So what do I do?"

X

Yumi knocked on the door, and Odd just yelled to come in. So she pushed open the door and let herself in. "Hey Odd."

"Oh, hey Yumi. Ulrich's not here right now."

She stared at her feet. "Good, I only have half an hour before I have to go home and I wanted to talk to you while Ulrich wasn't around. Can I?"

Odd looked up from his now-paused game, now becoming a little worried. "Sure Yumi, what's up?"

"Well, it's just Ulrich has been acting so different lately. He hasn't been talking to me as much and it's like he doesn't want to be around me. You're his best friend, so I thought that maybe you would know what's going on." Yumi explained, sitting down on Ulrich's bed.

Odd looked at his paused game. "I don't know. Did you do something to upset him?"

Yumi shook her head, "Do you think Sissi said something to Ulrich. You know, to get him mad at me so she could steal him?" Yumi sighed, her eyes looking hurt.

"Ummm…I think you're over-reacting a little Yumi. He's probably just tired. I'll talk to him tonight."

But before Yumi could say anything, her cell phone rang. "Hello? Oh hey Ulrich…oh, you're there now? Well sure I'll meet up with you. Bye."

She turned to Odd, "Never mind Odd, I think I'll be able to talk to him about it in a minute." And she rushed out the door and towards the lab.

X

Ulrich paced back and forth in front of the entrance to the lab, watching the sky steadily grow darker as he waited for Yumi. Finally she arrived, and stopped sprinting.

"Hey…Ulrich…you wanted to see me?" she asked, putting her hands on her knees as she hunched over to regain her breath.

He stopped and looked down at her. "Are you okay Yumi?"

She nodded, "So what's with you? You've been acting really weird lately. Whatever Sissi said was a lie!"

Ulrich helped her back up. "Sissi didn't say anything. I…actually…I wanted to tell you something…"

"Ok, what is it?"

He looked towards his feet again. "You can do it," he thought. "I wanted to tell you that… that… I…"

His phone rang.

"Hello? Hey Jeremie…really…ok I have Yumi with me…we'll be there in a second. Call Odd."

He turned back towards Yumi. "Xana struck! We gotta go quickly!"

He grabbed her hand and practically dragged her as they ran the rest of the way to the lab together…

X

Ulrich and Yumi ran with Aelita in the virtual world, monsters coming from every angle. Yumi threw her weapon, knocking out two of them, but getting shot in the stomach in the process.

"Ulrich watch out; if Yumi gets hit one more time she'll be out of the world! Don't worry though, Odd's on his way!" Said Jeremie, adding more stress to Ulrich.

"Yumi! Go over and cover Aelita, I'll get these guys!" Said Ulrich, running towards a group of the monsters and slashing them with his sword.

He turned to look at the girls, Aelita was almost to the tower, but more monsters were sneaking up on Yumi.

"Yumi behind you!" yelled Ulrich, jumping towards her and pushing her out of the way of the attack, taking it square in the back. He fell to the ground right as Aelita made it to the foot of the tower.

Yumi threw her weapon at the last remaining monster, which almost hit Ulrich again.

"Well that's the last of them. Your turn Aelita." Said Yumi, helping Ulrich to his feet. Aelita smiled at them, making Yumi give Ulrich a weird look. He just shrugged.

"You saved me. Thank you Ulrich," said Yumi, blushing a little. Aelita finally walked into the tower, and the two of them were alone.

He smiled. "You saved me too. Guess we're even."

Yumi smiled too, "Oh, what were you going to tell me earlier?"

Ulrich mentally kicked himself, she remembered!

"I wanted to say that I…lo…lo…"

"You what?" Yumi asked, her eyes full of confusion.

But before Ulrich could answer Aelita entered the code and they were sent back to their world…

X

Yumi laid awake that night, thinking about what Ulrich wanted to tell her. "Why is he acting so weird?"

She turned over, staring at the wall. "Not even Odd knew, this is so weird…"

Finally she drifted into a deep sleep, which was soon invaded by a bizarre but sweet dream…

_Ulrich walked over to her, smiling a bit, his cheeks a little rosy. "Thanks for meeting me here Yumi."_

"_No problem," she smiled. "But what's the deal with you? You're so different lately…"_

_Ulrich again didn't look to her face, but she gently pushed his face up. "I'm up here Ulrich, and I really wanna talk to you." She smiled sweetly. "We're friends? Right?"_

_He smiled too, "Yeah, of course we are." He said._

"_Only friends, is that all we're ever going to be?" he thought, not able to look at her anymore._

"_You seem sad that we are friends Ulrich. Is that what's been bothering you?"_

_Ulrich looked up. "NO! Yumi it's not like that!"_

"_Then what is it?"_

"_I…lo…"_

BEEP!

Yumi woke up, her alarm beeping madly. She turned it off, while softly cursing. She had almost found out what was wrong with Ulrich, and the stupid alarm had to go off. Then she noticed the time, she should've been up almost twenty minutes ago!

She got dressed and grabbed her backpack, ready to face another day of school. "Maybe I can find out what's wrong with Ulrich today."

Yumi walked downstairs and grabbed a cereal bar from a bowl on the counter. "I gotta run mom!" she yelled, opening the door.

"Wait Yumi! Some boy came by early this morning and left a note for you. It's on the counter."

Yumi sighed, cocked her head, and then grabbed the note. "Ok, later mom!"

X

Yumi arrived at school twenty minutes later, not yet having a chance to read the note. She met up with Ulrich, Odd, and Jeremie at their meeting place before school started.

"Hi guys, sorry I'm a little late. I was having some weird dream and didn't hear my alarm for like twenty minutes."

"So Yumi, we heard you have a little secret admirer!" joked Odd, who shut up after being glared at by Ulrich.

"What? Oh you mean the note? I haven't had a chance to read it yet, like I said, I was running a little late this morning."

Ulrich wanted to kill himself, but the bell rang just in time. "Well Yumi, we'll see you later, we have to get to class," and Ulrich dragged the boys away before another word could be spoken…

X

Yumi sat in math class, not paying an ounce of attention. Instead, she twirled the note between her fingers, wondering about it. It was folded very neatly and it said her name in delicate curvy letters on the front. "What could it be about? Who is it from?"

"YUMI! What's the answer to this equation?" asked the teacher, in a very irritated voice.

"Ummm…four?" She randomly guessed.

The teacher checked over the equation and glared at Yumi. "You got lucky, you better be paying attention Yumi!"

She turned back to the board and Yumi finally decided to open the note. She carefully and quietly opened the note, and saw the familiar writing of Ulrich.

_Yumi,_

_I'm sorry for being so weird lately, but I'm not going to space out anymore. Listen, I'm finally ready to tell you what's going on, so meet me by the lab after school._

_Ulrich_

Yumi was more confused now than before. Glad that the bell signaled lunch, she grabbed her books and hurried out the door.

"What's up with Ulrich?" she asked herself, walking down the hallways toward the cafeteria.

X

"So Ulrich, what did the note say? Did you confess in the note?" asked Jeremie, carrying his laptop under one arm.

Ulrich sighed; this is why he promised himself so long ago not to tell them anything. "No, I told her to meet me after school by the lab. I'm going to tell her then. Speaking of which, I have to go off campus today for lunch, tell Yumi for me ok?"

"Sure, but where are you going?" asked Odd, quickening his pace towards the lunchroom.

"I have to go pick something up. I'll be back in time for class. If not, cover me." Ulrich said, hurrying away.

X

Yumi sat down at the table, busily waiting for the others to join her. That's when Sissi decided to bother her.

"Hey Yumi. Didn't you comment earlier on why Ulrich was acting so weird? It's because he loves me, and we hooked up, he's just afraid to tell you. Oh, well that's Herb calling. Gotta go!"

Sissi hurried away, making Yumi even more confused. She twiddled the note between her fingers, looking at the writing on the cover. Wait- was that a heart dotting the i?

She shook her head, glad that Jeremie and Odd sat down next to her at that time. She tucked the note away and smiled. "Hey, where's Ulrich?"

"He said he had to pick something up off campus. So did you read the note?" answered Odd. Yumi nodded, "Yeah, and now I'm even more confused about him than before, and Sissi is not helping," she glared at Sissi's back.

"Don't worry, she's just jealous," answered Jeremie.

Yumi caught his mistake. "Jealous? Of what?" Jeremie mentally kicked himself.

"Um, I gotta go work on Aelita's materialization. I'll eat lunch at the lab," he replied and hurried away.

Then she thought back to the dream.

"_I…lo…"_

"Maybe he was going to say that he loves Sissi…" Yumi thought, and that hurt her, for reasons she'd never say.

"Hey Odd, did Ulrich and Sissi hook up?" asked Yumi, a little ashamed.

Odd laughed. "Are you kidding, Ulrich hates Sissi…"

X

The rest of the day drug by way too slow as Yumi waited. She couldn't wait to find out why Ulrich was acting so differently.

She again, twiddled the note between her fingers, letting out a long, deep sigh. "What could it all possibly mean?"

She placed her forehead in the palms of her hands, not worrying about the assignment she was supposed to be working on.

Finally the bell rang and she happily hurried out of class and over towards the lab…

X

She sat on a bench by the lab, waiting for Ulrich to show up; but Sissi did first. "Hey Yumi. If you see Ulrich for me could you tell him that I'd love to go out with him on Friday night? Thanks," she smiled sweetly.

"Tell him yourself," said Ulrich, finally walking over, his pack hanging over one shoulder. Sissi's smile faded and she hurried away. Ulrich yelled after her, "And I would never go out with you if you were the last girl on earth!"

He walked over to Yumi. "Sorry for making you wait, stupid teacher kept me after class to talk about my grades. I hate math!"

Yumi laughed and waited for him to explain himself. "So Ulrich, what was your note about?"

Ulrich watched the sun set, and decided he had to do it now. He pulled his pack of his shoulder and placed it on the ground. He unzipped it and finally found what he was looking for…

He pulled out two beautiful roses, one red, and the other red that faded into orange at the top, wrapped in beautiful white paper with flowers on it, and surrounded by baby's breath.

"I um…I got…these for…you," Ulrich muttered, handing the roses to Yumi, while staring at his feet.

"For me? Oh Ulrich, they're so beautiful," replied Yumi, looking at the roses in her hands. "Why? It's not my birthday, and Christmas is so far away…"

Ulrich looked up at her, "Because I…because I love you…"

Yumi almost dropped the roses. Ulrich stared at his feet, specks of magenta on his cheeks. "You…you do?"

He nodded, expecting her to run home or not talk to him or something, but he never expected her to do what she did.

She placed the roses on the bench next to her bag and hugged Ulrich. "I…I'm sorry," she whispered, burying her face in his shoulder.

He gently pushed her head up and stared into her eyes. "Are you…crying?"

He wiped the tears away with his thumbs, "what are you sorry for?"

She looked at the ground. "I doubted you…I mean; Sissi kept saying how the two of you had hooked up, and I believed her, I guess just to hide my own feelings…"

"What are your feelings?"

She walked right into that one. "I…love you too," she whispered, after returning to the bench and sitting down.

Ulrich sat down next to her. "I didn't know you felt that way…"

Then they both got quiet, watching the sun set as the first stars came out. She yawned and laid her head on his shoulder. "So are we like…a couple now?" she asked.

Ulrich started to shrug, and then stopped himself. "I dunno. Do you want us to be?"

"Do you?" she fired back, and he pushed her head off her shoulder and kissed her lips tenderly.

"For a long time now…" he replied, both of them blushing.

She had to stop her blushing, and looked back at him, "Is that why you've been acting so different lately?"

He nodded, "I've wanted to tell you for a long time, but I was afraid you didn't like me like that, and I didn't want to ruin our friendship."

Silence…again…

Then Yumi looked at her watch and almost fainted. "I'm so sorry Ulrich, but I gotta get home before my mom calls the police."

"Well, how about I walk you home?" Ulrich asked, and Yumi smiled. "OK!"

She picked up her books, but Ulrich took them away from her and carried them under one arm. "I'll take your books," he said smiling.

She smiled too, blushing a little and gently grabbed his free hand in her one, carrying the roses delicately in the other. He interlaced their fingers and they headed off towards Yumi's house.

X

"Thanks for walking me Ulrich, it was really nice of you," Yumi said, smiling.

"No problem," he replied, handing her the books.

"Um…so are we like…a couple?" she asked awkwardly.

"That depends," Ulrich said, then finished. "I mean…Yumi, will you go out with me?"

Yumi smiled and nodded, making Ulrich smile as well.

And they kissed each other good night, Ulrich no longer worrying about being rejected, Yumi no longer worrying about being alone…

X

_This story turned out to be 10 pages long! Way longer than I expected. I realize the characters were a little out of character, but this is my first Code Lyoko fic. So review and tell me what you think._

_Fox Kitsune_


End file.
